Tourism 4.0 for the Black Sea

ended

Context & overall objectives The Black Sea is a sea-basin where tourism sector has been steadily growing but still faces relevant challenges affecting the sustainability of the sector in the longer-terms (environmental pressures, peak visits in limited areas, poor overall visibility). These challenges through better insights of current trends, so to boost new services and introduce effective policy measures. The general objective is to foster Tourism 4.0 technologies (or more specifically High-Performance Data Analytics - HPDA) to boost Coastal and Maritime (Blue) Tourism in the Black Sea. Through a better understanding of current patterns of visits, the project will spur innovative touristic services and policies tailored to the regional challenges/opportunities. Work planned & main achievements The project will allow for a “demonstration” of the potentials of Big Data Analytics for Blue Tourism development in the Black Sea, through the testing of pilot services (WP3) based on local/regional “big data” collected throughout the initiative (WP2, WP4). By fostering dialogue with online platforms (WP4) and regional stakeholders (WP5), the project will also allow greater understanding and usage of Tourism 4.0 technologies and boost sectorial public/private cooperation. Results & impacts Direct results will include new commercial partnerships achieved locally, through a better understanding of Tourism 4.0 potentials for businesses and authorities involved in the project, with returns in high-skills job and GVA. Short/mid-term impacts for organisations uptaking those services are foreseen (Big Data literature reports an average 8% revenue increase and 10% cost reduction ). Indirect longer-term impacts will result from a greater use of big data for innovative services and effective policy measures.